


Tell Them You Love Them

by SnowWhiteKnight



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 10:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19810180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowWhiteKnight/pseuds/SnowWhiteKnight
Summary: 1929-2019Te quiero, Bita.





	Tell Them You Love Them

"Come on, stop being a baby," his wife teased him. Sandor, a giant oaf of a man that dwarfed even his tall wife, meekly let her pull him along the sidewalk up to the house, with their son asleep in his arms. Alyana had texted him earlier in the day, letting him know she was going to be there late in the evening. Gregor and his wife, Walda, would be flying in from their home in the Riverlands, though their daughter, Alyssa, was already here. "She's waiting on you, you know." 

Sandor nodded. "I know. Love you, little bird." He held his breath as Sansa rang the doorbell. Alyssa answered it with an amused smile. "'Bout time you got here," she said and let them in. "She's in the garden room. I was about to make some tea. You want any?"

"I'd like a cup," Sansa said. Sandor declined the offer. "Why don't you go say hi. I'll help Allie in the kitchen." 

Sandor swallowed hard, suddenly feeling nervous, but nodded. Alyssa and Sansa left him on his own to walk across the house. The garden room was a larger than normal patio, with the roof and walls made up of windows, basically a small conservatory. Shelves lined the walls, filled with plants of all sorts, from herbs to flowers to various medicinal types. There were even several hanging plants that could be raised and lowered on a pulley system. He had loved coming here when he was younger. There was a large wicker chair in the center, a small table big enough for four people, an additional 3 chairs, a playpen, and a large hair pile that doubled as a guard dog laying next to the wicker chair. The dog raised its head as Sandor entered, but old Rose knew him and lay her head back down once she had barked to let her master know someone was here. 

"Rhea? Is that you?" a soft, trembling voice called out. 

Sandor walked over to playpen to lay his son down, then turned to the table and sat down to look at the old woman sitting in the large wicker chair. Once, she had sat proudly in it, her back straight and her head held high, her presence larger than life. Now, she was hunched over, her neck barely able to hold her head high enough that she didn't suffocate herself. This is what always made it hard to face her. To see how much she had diminished under the disease that had taken away her strength and was slowing draining her life. "No, Nana. Rhea isn't here." He didn't mention that Rhea had been dead a long time. "It's me, your grandson, Sandor." 

She struggled to look at him. "Oh, my little love," she said, smiling. "I was thinking about you today. I saw the most beautiful rose, over there. Will you bring it to me? Rhea won't let me." She lifted her hand to point, more skin and bones than the strong muscle he had grown up knowing. 

Sandor got up and walked over to the area she had pointed at. Indeed, there was a new crop of roses growing. Blue roses, a wedding gift from his grandmother's mother, given to her so that she would never forget her roots in the North. He studied them carefully, and found the one she must have been referring to. A quick snip of the garden shears and he was able to bring her the rose. 

"Thank, my little love," she said, taking the rose carefully from him. She inhaled the delicate scent. "Home…" She said it so wistfully. "You know, you ought to give this to that pretty girl you're dating. She would appreciate a token of home." 

His grandmother had been thrilled to learn that Sandor had started dating a girl from her hometown of Winterfell. She had doted on Sansa, and helped Sandor fumble his way into marriage to the Northern girl. "I'm sure she will, Nana. She's here with me today." 

"You ought to snatch that girl off the market, Sandy," she admonished him. "Good girl like that will have lots of options, so you should strike while the opportunity presents itself." 

Sandor chuckled. He had heard this lecture a thousand times. "You know I'd never let a good woman like Sansa be wasted on me." 

"Phooey on that! You need her, even though she's out of your league. You can give her something no one else can!" 

"And what's that, Nana?" Sandor asked with a smile. Sansa and Alyssa had just arrived with the tea.

"A good fuck!"

They all had a hard time not bursting out laughing. Something his grandmother had lost over time in her old age was her sense of propriety, but she always meant well. "Oh, I can certainly give her that," Sandor said, grinning. 

"Gross," Alyssa said, setting down the tray with the cups and additives for the tea. "I love you guys, but I don't want to hear about my aunt and uncle's sex life, _thank you very much."_ Alyssa had graduated from high school early, but had no direction in life. She had come to Nana's for a visit one summer and simply never left. She took care of Nana better than any nurse, and was now even taking night courses to eventually get her nursing degree.

"Rhea," Nana warned. "Sex is a beautiful thing between two people in love, but I suppose it's not very good talk for tea. Sansa, darling, I've missed you so." She held onto Sansa's arm while Sansa leaned down to kiss Nana's cheek. "When are you going to put this old fool and her grandson out of their misery and join the family?"

Sansa smiled brightly. "Every day. I even brought you a surprise." Sansa walked over to the playpen where their son, Rhys, was starting to wake up. "Up you go, little pup," Sansa whispered. "We're at Nana's." 

"Na-na?" Rhys asked, his voice still heavy from sleep. "Na-na! Luf, Na-na!!" 

Nana squealed, looking ten years younger as Rhys was placed in her lap. "Oh, my little love, you're growing so much. Soon, Sandor, you'll be taller than your father and brother! Don't you think, Rhea?" she asked, turning to Sansa. 

Sansa just kept smiling, "Of course, Nana. He'll be a great man." 

It happened a lot nowadays. Nana's memory was fluid, and often blended the past with the present. In her mind, Sandor would take the place of her son, his own father, Sansa would take the place of her daughter-in-law, Rhea, and Rhys would often become Sandor. Most of the time, it was Alyssa that took Rhea's place, which was more understandable, since Alyssa had more of Rhea's features in her face. Sansa only had Rhea's red hair, and even then, it was a much more vivid color than Sandor's mother had had.

They were all used to it, this lapse in memories, and would play along with whatever she said. To fight it only made Nana confused, frustrated and angry. It was part of the degenerative disease she had, Parkinson's. She was already in stage four, possibly in stage five already. She refused to see a doctor, preferring to be comfortable at home.

"Oh! Sandor," Nana said suddenly. "Give her the flower!" And just as suddenly, she could be back in the present. "Go on, tell her something nice as well." 

Sandor smiled and picked up the flower. Standing up, he then walked around the table to his wife of five years and presented the blue rose to her. "Sansa. You are the light of my life." 

"Oh… Sandor…" Sansa's voice quivered a little and then she was launching herself into his arms to kiss him. "I love you so much!" It was half an act, and half their true selves. Sandor didn't usually like to do public displays of affection, but it made Nana happy, and Sansa loved to show her love for him for her own reasons. 

"Don't make me take the hose to you two," Alyssa quipped, pouring the tea for Nana, Sansa and herself. 

"Hush, child," Nana admonished her. "Let them be in love. It gives me life." 

Alyssa rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything further. Rhys wiggled until he was allowed to get down and sit next to Rose. The old dog sniffed at the child, then got up and followed him as he stood on wobbly legs and wandered around the garden room. 

"Will you be staying long?" Nana asked them as they sat back down at the table.

"For a week," Sansa answered. "Alyana will be here this evening, Gregor and Walda will arrive in the wee hours of the morning."

"I'll be picking them up from the airport, Nana," Alyssa chimed in. "So don't worry about them."

"I always worry about my grandchildren and great-grandchildren," Nana fussed, her teacup shaking as she raised it to her lips. She coughed as she inhaled it, something that happened when she tried to drink too quickly. "I'm fine! I'm fine!" she insisted, Sansa and Alyssa on either side of her. Her voice was rougher from the coughing fit. "I'm supposed to worry about you, not the other way around!"

"You raised us well, Nana. Well enough that we all know better. You don't have to worry about us." Sandor held the teacup for her, making sure she didn't spill it or accidentally drink it too fast. "You can rest now." 

**********

Nana passed away the next morning. They were all around her, the little garden room more full of life than it had been in quite some time. Gregor was complaining of a headache, Walda was fussing over him, babying him the way he liked. Sandor was telling him to go take a damn Tylenol already, while Sansa was telling him to hush. Alayna was telling both of her brothers to shut the hell up, it was too early in the morning to be arguing, and this was a poor example to set for Rhys, who was being held by her. Alyssa was holding Nana's hand as Nana grinned at her family. 

"You laugh at us now, Nana," Sandor said, "But you know you were like this when you were younger." 

"I was. That is why I laugh now. You all are so much like me. Keep that light, my loves. Keep that in your heart. I love you," she whispered softly, then closed her eyes and exhaled her last. 

**Author's Note:**

> 1929-2019
> 
> Te quiero, Bita.


End file.
